On Saturday, February 27, internationally acclaimed American pianist Adam Neiman returns to his hometown of Fremont to perform a solo program dominated by the works of Chopin, honoring the two centuries since the Polish composer's birth. Held at the Smith Center at Ohlone College, the recital is presented by the Fremont Symphony Orchestra as a major highlight of its 2009-2010 season.

Fremont music fans were first dazzled by Adam Neiman in 1986 when the pianist won the Ruth Tarr Award reserved for musicians under the age of 16 in Fremont Symphony's Young Artist Competition.

At 11, Neiman performed in Los Angeles' Royce Hall and made his European debut three years later in Germany at the Ivo Pogorelich Festival. At age 15, he became the youngest winner of Italy's Casagrande International Piano Competition, and at 17, he was the youngest musician ever to receive the Gilmore Young Artist Award.

Mr. Neiman graduated from Juilliard in 1999 with the prestigious Rubinstein Award.

The LaJolla Village News proclaimed "his performance is athletic, sensuous and exciting, a miracle of suspension and release."

Apart from Chopin's bicentenary, February also marks another musical anniversary of particular interest to Fremont. Forty years ago, a gifted local pianist and winner of the Young Artist competition of the Fremont Symphony debuted with the orchestra in Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto. The pianist was Lea Neiman, Adam's mother.

Clearly, playing the piano and winning competitions are all part of the Neiman family tradition - a tradition that seems to be gaining the amplitude from one generation to the next.

In addition to the works of Chopin, Adam Neiman's upcoming Fremont appearance will include music by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and an original piece by Neiman himself.

A limited number of reduced price tickets for piano students are available through the Symphony Box Office.